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Home Network
=Home network= A home network or home area network (HAN) is a type of local area network with the purpose to facilitate communication among digital devices present inside or within the close vicinity of a home. Devices capable of participating in this network, for example, smart devices such as network printers and handheld mobile computers, often gain enhanced emergent capabilities through their ability to interact. These additional capabilities can be used to increase the quality of life inside the home in a variety of ways, such as automation of repetitious tasks, increased personal productivity, enhanced home security, and easier access to entertainment. Infrastructure http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Homenet.svgAn example of a simple home network A home network usually relies on one of the following equipment to establish physical layer, data link layer, and network layerconnectivity both internally amongst devices and externally with outside networks: *A modem is usually provided by an ISP to expose an Ethernet interface to the WAN via their telecommunications infrastructure. In homes these usually come in the form of a DSL modem or cable modem. *A router manages network layer connectivity between a WAN and the HAN. Most home networks feature a particular class of small, passively-cooled, table-top device with an integrated wireless access point and 4 port Ethernet switch. These devices aim to make the installation, configuration, and management of a home network as automated, user friendly, and "plug-and-play" as possible. * A network switch is used to allow devices on the home network to talk to one another via Ethernet. While the needs of most home networks are satisfied with Wi-Fi or the built-in switching capacity of their router, certain situations require the introduction of a distinct switch. For example: **When the router's switching capacity is exceeded. Most home routers expose only 4 to 6 Ethernet ports. **When Power over Ethernet is required by devices such as IP cameras and IP phones **When distant rooms have a large amount of wired devices in close proximity *A wireless access point is required for connecting wireless devices to a network. Most home networks rely on one "Wireless Router" combination device to fill this role. *A network bridge connecting two network interfaces to each other, often in order to grant a wired-only device, e.g. Xbox, access to a wireless network medium. Common infrastructure issues - Wireless signal loss The wireless signal strength of the standard residential wireless router may not be powerful enough to cover the entire house or may not be able to get through to all floors of multiple floor residences. In such situations, the installation of one or more Wireless Repeaters may be necessary - "Leaky" Wi-Fi WiFi often extends beyond the boundaries of a home and can create coverage where it is least wanted, offering a channel through which non-residents could compromise a system and retrieve personal data. To prevent this it is usually sufficient to enforce the use of authentication, encryption, or VPN that requires a password for network connectivity. However new Wi-Fi standards working at 60 GHz, such as 802.11ad, enable confidence that the LAN will not trespass physical barriers, as at such frequencies a simple wall would attenuate the signal considerably. - Electrical grid noise For home networks relying on powerline communication technology, how to deal with electrical noise injected into the system from standard household appliances remains the largest challenge. Whenever any appliance is turned on or turned off it creates noise that could possibly disrupt data transfer through the wiring. IEEE products that are certified to be HomePlug 1.0 compliant have been engineered to no longer interfere with, or receive interference from other devices plugged into the same home's electrical grid.